Pacers vs. Lakers Point Spread: NBA Odds, Prediction
The Indiana Pacers nearly knocked LeBron James out of the Eastern Conference playoffs last season. Now, the Pacers get their first look at LeBron in the Lakers Purple and Gold on Thursday night.
NBA Point Spread and Betting Analysis
A LeBron James-led team had won the Eastern Conference eight years in a row before James opted to take his talents to the Western Conference and the Lakers this summer. That streak almost stopped at seven last April when LeBron’s Cavaliers faced the Indiana Pacers in the first round of the playoffs.
Indiana stole the opener in Cleveland in blowout fashion – that was notable because James was 12-0 in his career in postseason Game 1s in the first round. The Pacers would also lead 2-1 and had a chance for a 3-2 lead but lost Game 5 on an epic LeBron buzzer-beater. Indiana did force a Game 7 back in Cleveland, but James and the Cavs escaped with a 105-101 victory. He still has yet to lose a first-round playoff series in his Hall of Fame career.
As for the Pacers and Lakers, they split last year, each winning at home by double digits. Los Angeles is 36-9 all-time at home in the series. The clubs play in Indianapolis on Feb. 5.
The home team is 6-2-1 ATS in the past nine meetings overall. Indiana has lost two straight and three of its past four in L.A.
Indiana Pacers
Indiana is 2-0 on a West Coast trip following a 121-88 blowout win on Monday in Utah and then avoiding a trap 24 hours later in winning 109-104 at a bad Phoenix side. Would have been so easy for the Pacers to lose that one. Bojan Bogdanovic hit the key 3-pointer with 31 seconds left. Doug McDermott and Domantas Sabonis each had 21 points, and Darren Collison 11 points, 11 assists and five rebounds for his first double-double of the year. Indiana is going to need a group effort again Thursday as it appears star guard Victor Oladipo will miss his sixth straight game with a sore right knee. He was the NBA’s Most Improved Player last season and is averaging 21.4 points, 6.6 rebounds and 4.7 assists in 2017-18. The Pacers are 2-6 ATS in their past eight playing on one day of rest.
Los Angeles Lakers
LeBron had easily his worst game as a Laker on Tuesday as L.A. was blown out 117-85 in Denver – a season low in points for the Lakers by far and their biggest margin of defeat. It was the Nuggets’ biggest-ever win in the series. James had a season-low 14 points on 5-for-15 shooting. He was 0-for-4 from deep and had only two assists. As a team, the Lakers shot 5-for-35 from long range. That per centage of 14.3 was the worst in franchise history when L.A. attempted at least 30 from behind the arc. Lonzo Ball tweaked his ankle in the game and was limited to 18 minutes. About the only player who fared well was Kyle Kuzma with 21 points. No one else had more than 14. The Lakers are 1-4 ATS in their past five after a loss.
